Wednesday, 15 May 2019

There was panic in Oke-Afa, in the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State on Tuesday after a commercial bus ran into a fallen tanker, thereby causing an explosion.

According to Punch, the tanker reportedly belonged to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.No fewer than four passengers on the bus were said to have been injured in the incident. The victims were rushed to the Isolo General Hospital for treatment
However, no life was lost in the explosion.

It was gathered that the NNPC tanker had fallen on Monday without any fire incident, as officials of the Lagos State Fire Service responded to a distress call to the spillage.
The scene of the incident was said to have been condoned off and vehicular movement restricted to avoid any contact with the spillage around the Oke-Afa bridge.

An eyewitness, Adeaga Adeyemi, said the driver of the commercial bus, while commuting passengers to their destinations around 6.30am, was not aware that the area had been condoned off as he drove into a ditch filled with fuel.

The businessman stated that there was an explosion as soon as the exhaust of the bus scratched the ground.

Adeyemi said, “Yesterday (Monday), a tanker fell and its contents spilled on the ground. What was left in it was being transferred into another tanker. The whole area was condoned off and vehicles were re-directed to pass other routes.

“But this morning (Tuesday), a commercial vehicle ran into a ditch and caught fire instantly. We did little to put out the fire before the fire service people came to salvage the situation. Some of the victims of the fire were rushed to the Isolo General Hospital for treatment.”

The acting Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaki Musibau, said nobody died in the incident.

“The bus was completely burnt; even the number plate was no longer visible,” he added.

Musibau advised tanker drivers and commercial drivers to be cautious while driving, adding that the fire incident could have been averted if the driver had not driven through the barrier.